Where Did Cigars Come From?

By Jafree Gurner

Tobacco was first used by the people native to North and South America. For years, the Native Americans and Incas had been smoking fine tobacco for hundreds of years before anyone else. Although uncured, it did the job. Native americans used the stuff in their peace pipes, and the Incas smoked green tobacco out of stone pipes. They felt it had spiritual and magical properties, and was smoked by the Gods.

During the 15th century, Columbus landed near south america and noticed the natives smoking some kind of leaf that had been rolled up into a cone. The plant they were smoking was tobacco. Columbus brought this plant back to spain, where the people who could afford it would grow it in their orchards. They would often offer the plant to their guests, saying "Es de mi cigarrel" or, "it is from my orchard". Cigar presumably was twisted from the word cigarrel, and thus the name was born.

Early tobacco was not cured properly and thus was very harsh. As time went on, people found that allowing the tobacco to ferment helped smooth out the flavor. This process involved letting the tobacco dry out, and then setting it in a sort of compost pile. The temperatures in this pile reached well past 100 degrees, which just happens to be the perfect temperature for fermenting tobacco.

People eventually decided that it would be easier to take tobacco with them if they rolled it up. Not only could they smoke it without a pipe, but they could blend different flavors into it much more easily. Cigars today have tobaccos from around the world blended into them, and this gives them their ultra complex and unique flavors. Each cigar is different, and a true connoisseur will want to try them all - even the bad ones.

Tobacco has traveled a long way through both space and time. From the Caribbean to Spain, and then back again, tobacco has traveled the world. In this day and age, you can get a good cigar for less than a sack of pomegranates. Cigars have evolved to be used by the people of the world.

In our modern times, many people enjoy sparking up a cigar as a way to end their day and start winding down. What was once a spiritual plant with medical properties is now being enjoyed by people worldwide. The cigar is a wonderful invention.

Article Source: http://interpret.zar.vg

About The Author
The author is a self proclaimed cigar aficionado and also smokes the occasional pipe. If you're as interested in black zippo memorabilia as he is, feel free to visit www.tobacco-barn.com/ after reading this article.